Zamora, Mojdeh banner eight-man PSL team to Japan

The Philippine Swimming League (PSL) has named eight tankers who will be donning the national colors in the 2015 Tokyo Invitational Swimming Championship scheduled on February 4 to 10 in Japan.

Swimmer of the Year candidates Sean Terence Zamora of University of Santo Tomas, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh of Immaculate Heart of Mary College-Parañaque and Marc Bryan Dula of Weissenheimer Academy will spearhead the country’s campaign against tankers from host Japan, US, China, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, among others.

“We might add more swimmers but so far, these are the qualified swimmers who will represent our country in the Japan competition. We are looking forward to win medals to jumpstart our campaign this year,” said PSL President Susan Papa. Joining them in the team are veteran international campaigners Jux Keaton Solita of UST, Lans Rawlin Donato of University of the Philippines and Joey del Rosario of De La Salle Santiago Zobel School as well as Lowenstein Julian Lazaro and John Leo Paul Salibio.

In the 2015 Japan Invitational Swimming Championship held in November, Mojdeh and Zamora led the team’s 19-gold, 10-silver, 10-bronze medal haul.

The nine-year-old Mojdeh copped five golds and one silver while the 15-year-old Zamora took home two golds, one silver and one bronze. They also bagged the Most Outstanding Swimmer awards in their respective age bands.

For his part, Dula claimed one gold and four silvers in the 2015 Singapore Invitational Swimming Championship in September and pocketed the Most Outstanding Swimmer trophy in the boys’ 8 year category.

“We are giving these kids proper exposures. High-level ang competitions sa Japan dahil malalakas ang mga kasali. Teams from China, United States, Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany and other European countries are expected to be there so we need to be ready,” added Papa.

Prior to the competition, the eight tankers will undergo rigid training at the Diliman Preparatory School swimming pool in Quezon City to ensure that they are in tip-top condition before plunging into action.

PSL is a national sports swimming association for Universities and Colleges accredited by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (Fessap), internationally affiliated member of Federation of International Sports University (FISU).